We are now back in the States which is a great feeling. We are getting used to the new time, but we are glad to see family and our fellowship tomorrow. We just returned from Beijing and have lots of stories and pictures from our time there. I will try to get some of those things in here. During our return from China, we had a few interesting moments. Our flight from Chicago to Minneapolis was cancelled which allowed us the opportunity to meet lots of people and share our stories, but we also had a bag that we have not been reunited with yet. This has been the hardest as this contained all of our presents and penpal letters from my students and lots of pictures and other things to share. It is good to remember that these things are really not important, it is all about the who that we know and not the what that we have (but yes it is really hard).

Here are a few of the highlights from our trip to Beijing. We arrived at a time when our friends were very busy, so we were basically on our own to get around the city. We were blessed though to have a place to stay in. We went to a wide variety of places like the Summer Palace (YiheYuan), the Old Summer Palace (YuanmingYuan), the Lama Temple that was a gift from the Dalai Lama and took 3 years to be transported there, the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan) where the gave sacrifices to heaven, Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall (this was the only requirement for Patty), Hutongs (which as the old narrow housing areas of Old Beijing with courtyards old architecture). I will have to add more details once we get caught up with our sleep though. It was a great time to enjoy the history and splendor of Beijing, but we definitely could not live there. We look forward to visiting friends and family during our time home, hopefully we will also get a chance to get together with you also. Many blessings and great joy.